Blog Do I need a Website?

Whether or not you should go through the trouble of setting up a website depends on one major factor: how far do you want to go with your creative career? If you wish to keep your pursuits at the hobbyist level, in all likelihood you won’t need a website unless you simply want one.

However, if you would like to walk a professional path, you should consider a website. Think of it as something like a digital calling card (or even a Carrd, but we’ll get into that later) and portfolio all in one.

In addition, a website boosts your SEO, or search engine optimization. SEO refers to the process of building out a page to increase its chances of popping up in Google, Duck Duck Go, or other search engines. The better the optimization, the closer to the top of the search returns the website will sit. Having a website—especially one with your name in the URL—makes it much easier for friends, family, fans, and potential collaborators to find you when they search your name.

Where do I Host My Website?

Understandably, the next question anyone asks when they decide they need a website to bolster their career involves where, exactly, to host it. Unless you want to hire a web developer and private host, setting up a website doesn’t have to cost you anything! The following options allow you to get your name out there without paying a pretty penny (or any penny):

Now that you’ve set up a website, your next step is to register a unique domain name. Make it easy to remember—your name (or alias) and occupation is sufficient. This helps with both your networking and SEO.

How Do I Set Up My URL?

Luckily, registering a domain name so you have a unique, easy-to-remember URL to share is extremely simple! Unlike building and hosting a website, this can’t always be done for free, however. Though unless you plan to purchase a high-level URL containing in-demand keywords, you’re not going to spend an exorbitant amount of money… if you spend any money at all.

Registering a domain name is so much simpler than it sounds. All you do is pick the name you want, purchase it (if a purchase even needs to be made at all), and have it forwarded to where your website is hosted. Instructions are almost always included when you go pick up your piping hot URL order. The following websites should help you register free or cheap domain names:

We highly recommend opting for a URL registrar that allows for privacy protection, also known as WHOIS privacy. If you own a domain name, scammers and other bad actors may go searching for the physical address attached to it. Privacy protection lists a P.O. Box or the domain registrar’s own street address in lieu of yours to keep you and any other members of your household safe.

What do I Put on My Website?

So now you have a host, and even a snazzy domain name! Now it’s time to actually build your website. Luckily, most hosting services offer a wide range of templates for those of us not trained in HTML, CSS, or other web language. All you need to do is plug your content into the template and there you go!

But (because there’s always a but) you do actually have to strategize what to share and not share on the website. Look, we all love photos of your pets! They just don’t belong on your professional website right now. Cute as your furry friends are, irrelevant inclusions only clog up your space and make it harder for visitors to find out what they need to know about you and your career.

You know what information does belong, though? The following:

Keep it simple! There’s no need to overload your website. This isn’t the mid-’90s and you’re not hosted on Geocities. You don’t want to miss out on opportunities because an industry hotshot couldn’t navigate around the sparkly unicorn .gifs and recipes for your mom’s world famous meatloaf.

Closing Credits, at Your Service!

If you ever find yourself hung up on questions regarding your website, the Closing Credits community is here to help! Students, you can run your ideas past both your fellow learners as well as our instructors. If you’re a voice actor, John Wang offers a Business for Voice Actors course that covers not only how to present yourself online, but other elements of launching your professional success as well. At Closing Credits, we’re devoted to making sure everyone who enrolls in our classes and asks questions in our Discord receives everything they need to meet their career goals.